Tenth in the Aurora Teagarden amateur sleuth mystery series and revolving around a librarian married to a writer in Lawrenceton, Georgia.

My Take

It’s a sweet and cozy tale of family life with a first-person protagonist point-of-view, which means we “hear” the story from Aurora’s perspective and her struggles in dealing with a new baby…on top of the flu. Of course it doesn’t help when a dead body shows up in the backyard and the neighbors are pointing fingers.

Considering how so many people in town react to Aurora, I’m thinking “don’t judge a book by its cover”, i.e., don’t listen to gossip. Remember who a person is and how they’ve behaved over the years. That’ll say a lot more about them…and YOU…than passing on malicious talk. Of course, it doesn’t make the story more interesting, if the characters are decent *grin*.

It’s a small town, so everyone knows everyone else, and when one gets promoted to detective, those relationships can change, and not necessarily for the better.

I love how Harris describes Phillip as being a kind, nonjudgmental person, content to let other people live their own lives. A maturity so few people reach. I do love his character, and I’m looking forward to much more of Phillip.

Actually, I simply enjoy this series — and Sleep Like a Baby — for that easiness of family and small-town life.

The Story

Robin and Aurora have finally begun their adventure in parenting. With newborn Sophie proving to be quite a handful. But is the home help they hire a good idea or a bad? It doesn’t help that she suddenly disappears one night and can’t be found.

What Roe and Phillip do find is a body outside…but it isn’t Virginia’s. Now, not only does she have a newborn to care for and a bad case of the flu to nurture, Roe also has to contend with a new puzzle — who is this mystery woman dead in their backyard, and what happened to Virginia?

The Characters

Aurora Teagarden is a librarian (she’s a member of the Real Murders [Book] Club and the Uppity Women) with her first baby, Sophie Abigail Crusoe. Robin Crusoe is her mystery writer husband. Phillip is Aurora’s half-brother who’s been living with them. Moosie is a sweet but timid kitty who lives with them.

Corinne is Robin’s mother. Aida Brattle Teagarden Queensland is Roe’s mother who recently married John Queensland. John David (Poppy is John David’s deceased wife; Chase is their son) and Avery are John’s kids. Melinda is Avery’s wife. Jane Engle had been Roe’s “fairy godmother”. Roe and Phillip’s dad is a deadbeat.

Virginia Mitchell is the home help Aurora’s mother finds for Roe and Robin. Carlos Rivera is Virginia’s half-brother; Marcy Mitchell is her mother. Ford is her newly released-from-jail boyfriend. Dr. Garrison is Roe’s ob-gyn. Deedee Powers, Tallchief, and Stanley are some of the nurses at the hospital. Officer Brad Rodenheiser is in charge of hospital security. Carter Redding‘s daughter, Kathleen, is ill. Dr. Clifton is a consulting psychiatrist.

Peggy and Lena Herman are twins who live next door. Chaka is their Rhodesian ridgeback. Lena’s twin girls, Cindy and Mindy, live in Maine and Spartanburg, respectively. Kevin is Peggy’s doctor son and a dad himself. The officious Deborah and Jonathan Cohen live on the other side and, man, they are such pains in the tush! They just know that anything bad that happens is Roe and Robin’s fault and designed just to irritate them. Lulu is their PITA dachshund.

Sarah Washington is Phillip’s girlfriend; Beatrice is Sarah’s mother. Josh and Jocelyn Finstermeyer are twins and Phillip’s friends. Josh is dating Holly Maxwell while Joss is dating Kay Duval. Beth and George Finstermeyer are their parents. The snotty Justine had a party; Dr. and Carly Halverson are her lax parents. (Carly is Clifton’s daughter.)

Angel Youngblood is an old friend of Roe’s and married to Shelby; they’ve both worked as bodyguards. Their daughter is Lorna. Amina is/was a childhood friend; Megan is her daughter (Roe is her godmother). Susie is one of Megan’s friends. Hugh is Amina’s about-to-be-ex lawyer husband.

Father Aubrey Scott is the pastor of their church. Emily Scott is his wife. Liza is Emily’s daughter and friends with Phillip, since events in All the Little Liars, 9. Connor had been Emily’s first husband, an alcoholic abuser.

Laurenceton law enforcement
The pregnant Officer Susan Crawford partners with Officer Cleve Dan. Detectives Cathy Trumble and Levon Suit come to investigate the body. The pregnant Katrina is Levon’s wife; Jeremy is their son. Ardos “Arnie” Petrosian is the coroner whose full-time job is as the owner of Spartan Shield Security. Halina is his deceased wife.

Truman PDOfficer Dale Finch cracked up when Ford started complaining.

Brenda works at a real estate company and is Susan’s sister-in-law. Annette is Cathy’s younger sister. Duncan is her troubled son. Mrs. Sung is the drycleaner who wants Roe out of her establishment ASAP. Patricia “Mimi” Day was an exciting old lady. Laurie and David Martinez were the previous owners of Roe and Robin’s house. Rick Morrison was robbed.

Tracy Beal, a.k.a., LastFanStanding, escaped a mental hospital. She’d also stalked Dan Lonsdale and threatened his fiancée. Her mother, Sandra Beal, lives in South Carolina, while her sister, Sharon, lives in Anders. Celia Shaw was an actress murdered on the set of Whimsical Death.

The Lawrenceton Library is…
…where Roe works. Sam Clerrick is the library director and her boss. Lizanne is his secretary and Roe’s friend. Bubba is Lizanne’s recently ex-husband who seeing Teresa Stanton, the ex-wife of another lawyer, Bryan Pascoe. Roe’s coworkers include Jennie Spellman, the media specialist, and Perry Allison.

Boucheron is…
…the world mystery convention in Nashville where one of the awards is the Anthony. Jeff Abbott is Robin’s friend and was best man at their wedding.

Harry Holderman of the Holderman Agency is Robin’s agent. Jill has been Robin’s editor for the past three books. Dawn is his webmaster.

Blossom Betty’s is a florist in Anders.

The Cover and Title

The cover is a deep, dark purply blue of sky and shadow while a slash of light comes from the house and illuminates the body lying under the orange smooth-skinned bark of the mimosa tree, turning the leaves a brilliant blue green with splotches of pink flowers scattered in the treetop over the orange striped Moosie sleeping on a branch. The author’s name is at the top in a pale orange with the lime-green title (in script) a’slant across the tree trunk. The series information is at the bottom in a pale gray.